Counseling & Yoga

Thank you for your interest in counseling and/or yoga. By just exploring this opportunity, you have already embarked on your road to holistic health and wellness. I am thrilled to join Michele at Lotus Center and embark on a new adventure of holistic care, wellness, and healing. It is an honor to share this space, and as I may be new to you, I’ll share a bit about my path to becoming a counselor.

Though I did not always know I wanted to be a counselor, I knew I was passionate about building relationships, facilitating empowerment, seeking meaning, and engaging in holistic wellness. To my surprise and gratitude, I found the career of counseling and discovered the incredible honor of joining with clients on their journeys of self-exploration, growth, and healing.

In 2017, I earned my PhD in Counseling and Counselor Education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro which is accredited by the Council on Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP). I earned a Master’s of Science (M.S.) and an Education Specialist (Ed. S.) degree from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and I graduated from the undergraduate program at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of the Arts (B.A.) in Psychology and a minor in Sexuality Studies. I am a Nationally Certified Counselor (NBCC-NCC #269684), Licensed Professional Counselor Associate (LPCA #A10674), and an Approved Clinical Supervisor (ACS #2511).

Throughout my doctoral program, I completed an internship working at the Wesley Long Cancer Center in the Center for Spiritual Care and Wholeness in which I counseled people diagnosed with, being treated for, and recovering from cancer, offered crisis support in the emergency department, and counseled people admitted to the behavioral health, geriatric, and palliative care hospital departments. I have also facilitated a Trans Support Group and counseled college students and community members in the Nicholas A. Vacc Counseling and Consulting Clinic. Prior to entering my doctoral program, I worked in a community agency in Lake Charles, Louisiana counseling a diverse array of clients varying in race, gender, socioeconomic status, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, ability, and ethnicity. During my Master’s I completed internships in which I counseled children and adolescents admitted to the Moses Cone Behavioral Health Center Child and Adolescent Unit and children attending the Doris Henderson Newcomers School, a school for recently arrived refugees and immigrants to the US. Throughout my counseling career, I have had the opportunity to work within couple and family systems as well as in groups and with individuals of various ages. Additionally, I have presented many trainings and consulted with community stakeholders with regard to affirming practices in work with LGBTIQA+ populations.

I aim to continue counseling families, couples, and individuals in both group and individual structures. I cater to all age groups and provide services to all variations of the familial unit. I believe that each client possesses a beautiful array of skills and strengths that can positively aid in their growth and wellness. My belief in the potential and ability of every client encourages me to take a collaborative role in counseling as I strive to understand the client’s experience within their worldview.

My theoretical orientation incorporates person-centered, experiential, cognitive behavioral, and body-focused techniques within a framework of social constructivism, feminist counseling, intersectionality, family systems, and attachment theory. I find it impossible to work with families and individuals without examining the effects of social constructs as well as the pervasiveness of multi-level discrimination, oppression, and privilege within our society. Through this socially conscious, standpoint lens, I hope to collaborate with clients in identifying and targeting socially-influenced maladaptive beliefs, enhancing unique client strengths and holistic wellness, and facilitating client empowerment and actualization. Additionally, as a trained Shamanic Yoga Teacher, I offer yoga in the form of private sessions, group classes, and partner yoga. I find the incorporation of the body to be integral to the healing and wellness of the spirit and mind.

My dedication to mutual respect, honoring the value and power of each client’s voice, and joining clients on their journeys of heartful learning and growth shapes the manner in which I offer holistic counseling and yoga services.

Thank you for you interest, and I look forward to joining you on your journey.